Former Ohio Senator Howard Metzenbaum, who died in March at age 90, was an ultraliberal as a politician but also a savvy and very rich businessman. Before going to Washington in 1976, he had made a fortune on parking lots.

As a three-term Democrat, he made his reputation in Washington by attacking big business and fighting anything that even hinted of deregulation. His attacks against Clarence Thomas in 1991 prompted a famous retort from the future Supreme Court Justice: "God is my judge, Mr. Metzenbaum, not you."

But we come today not to judge the late Senator, only to praise him for one last act of personal financial acumen. Though a lifelong Ohioan, the Senator moved to Florida in 2002, according to a declaration of domicile filed with the Broward County Clerk's office in 2003. In doing so, he avoided paying his home state's income tax (top rate: 6.55%).

More important as he neared the end of his life, the former Senator also saved his family from paying Ohio's death tax, which features one of the highest state rates (7%) and lowest asset thresholds – $338,333 – in the country. Florida famously has no income or estate tax, which is one reason other than the climate that it is home to so many northern-born retirees.

Howard Metzenbaum thus denied the state in which he lived most of his life a parting financial gift. But he has at least provided the rest of us with a teaching moment in tax policy. If a liberal lion like Metzenbaum is willing to relocate late in life to avoid his state's death tax, maybe living politicians in Ohio will better understand how their confiscatory tax laws are driving its citizens to warmer climes.

Another example would be the Kennedy's and Kerry's. Under Massachusetts law, after they cut the state income tax they gave residents they option of continuing to pay the higher level. Surprisingly, neither Sen Kennedy nor Sen Kerry elected to do so.

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2. Public vs. private school - I'm a proponent of increasing taxes to increase spending on teachers salaries. You're not? You wouldn't send your kid to an exclusive private school, if you were rich? Everyone pays taxes for school, whether your child is in private school or not. I want public schools to be better. Public pay for pre-K - why not? Why would anyone home school their kids, anyway, if only to insulate them from 'dangerous ideas'? Families who homeschool don't do it because school is dangerous; it starts in grade school.

No, I am definitely not a proponent of increasing taxes to spend on failing public schools. I am a proponent of allowing parents to keep their tax money to send their children to the school of their choice. I am afraid the public school system is fundamentally flawed and no amount of money will fix it. Competition will.

I do send my kids to private schools. We make the sacrifices necessary to do so but for many that is simply not an option. I do not think that option should be denied to anyone.

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3. Put a wind farm next to my house. I would appreciate it. I think most people would. Who, specifically, doesn't want a wind farm off the coast of their summer house? Some kind of right-wing rumor?

It's going to take a long time before people find solutions to environmental problems. Thinking 'green' is a first step; lots of kinks to work out (e.g., the problems with carbon credits).

A lot of rich people are doing what they think is good for the environment, education, and poverty; don't dump on them for trying, to justify your narrow mindset. "These people really don't care" is a lie, a simple, vain, and insulting attack. Find better solutions. Problems need solving here. The status quo isn't working. Things are getting more screwed up every day. Let's hear about your solutions to make theworld (and not your world) a better place (if you say prayer I'll vomit).

What makes you think conservatives don't want to solve problems? They simply do not believe the state is capable of solving them. More often than not, when the government tries to solve a problem it simply makes matters worse.